Various types of massage equipment in which a user is able to sits for receiving a massage (chair-type massage equipment) have been developed to date. There is a heretofore known massage apparatus of this type that comprises a seat and a backrest mounted at the rear end of the seat, and further includes a massage mechanism for imparting at least one of kneading massage action, tapping massage action, finger-pressure massage action, and vibratory massage action to the backrest. Such a massage apparatus is capable of performing an efficacious massage on a body part to be massaged of a user sitting on the seat between the nape and waist regions, viz., the entire back (hereafter referred to as “back side”) of the user.
Among such massage apparatuses as above described, in an attempt to meet one of user's demands, there has been developed a massage apparatus capable of warming up and cooling down a to-be-massaged part of user's back side by means of a warm-cool air supply section provided in its backrest (refer to Patent literature 1, for example). More specifically, in such a massage apparatus, a front cover body and a back cover body are arranged in overlapping relation with each other on the surface side of the backrest, and, warm air and cool air can be fed into a space created between the front cover body and the back cover body from the warm-cool air supply section disposed at the back side of the backrest. Moreover, the back cover body is impervious to air, whereas the front cover body has permeability to air, and therefore, warm air and cool air accumulated in the space between the front cover body and the back cover body are fed, through the air-permeable front cover body, to user's back side. Thus, user's back can be warmed up and cooled down by exploiting warm air and cool air that have passed through the front cover body.
Moreover, in the massage apparatus having the warm-cool air supply function as above described, a massage mechanism for massaging a to-be-massaged body part of a user is disposed immediately on the back (rear) side of the back cover body. This massage mechanism has a massager protruding toward a user, so that a to-be-massaged part of user's back can be massaged, while being warmed up and cooled down, by pressing action of the protruding massager exerted from above the two cover bodies, namely the front cover body and the back cover body.
Accordingly, with the massage apparatus disclosed in Patent literature 1, in winter months for example, a user is able to massage his/her desired body part to be massaged while warming up the part, and, on the other hand, in summer season or after taking a bath, a user is able to have a comfortable massage while cooling his/her upper body down.